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Minimum Equity Standard

The Climate and Equitable Jobs Act (CEJA) created an equity accountability system mandating minimum equity standards for certain IPA administered programs and procurements. The Minimum Equity Standard (“MES”) helps ensure that the growing clean energy economy is accessible to everyone. Beginning June 1, 2023, an increasing portion of the workforce of an entity participating in the IPA’s Illinois Shines Program, Self-direct Program, or competitive renewable energy procurements must meet the requirements of the Minimum Equity Standard.

For information on MES requirements for projects participating in Illinois Shines, visit the Minimum Equity Standard page of the program website.

For information on MES requirements for utility-scale solar and wind projects, visit the Indexed Wind, Solar, Brownfield, and Hydropower page of the procurement website.

Registration of Equity Eligible Persons

All entities participating Illinois Shines, Indexed REC Procurements, or that have chosen to meet the MES as their workforce requirement in ILSFA, are required to meet the Minimum Equity Standard through registering EEPs in their workforce. For Program/Delivery Year 2026-2027, the MES percentage is 14% for Shines and ILSFA, and for Indexed REC projects, it is dependent on the seller contract. 

As your organization hires and/or works with Equity Eligible Persons (EEPs) during the program/delivery year, please keep in mind that the Agency will require data for these individuals during MES reporting at the end of the year through the MES Combined Compliance and Year-End Report. The Agency verifies EEP eligibility as part of the review process for this report. Entities have two options for providing this data.

EEP Registration Through the Energy Workforce Equity Portal    

EEP Manual Registration Through Combined MES Compliance Plan and Year-End Report Process

  • For this option, the entity can collect signed EEP attestations and provide any required documentation for their EEPs through the Year-End Report portion of the Combined MES Compliance and Year-End Report. The EEP attestation can be downloaded here: https://energyequity.illinois.gov/content/dam/soi/en/web/energyequity/documents/eep-attestation-formv2.pdf
  • This option requires that the entity collect required supplemental documentation for EEPs who qualify based on graduation from a participating workforce training program, or whose primary residence is located in an Equity Investment Eligible Community. Acceptable documentation is described below. All personally identifying information and private information will be held confidential.

  1. For EEPs who qualify based on graduation or current participation in a qualifying workforce training program, please provide either an acceptance letter from the training provider (for current participants), or a certificate of completion from the training provider (for graduates). 

     

    For EEPs who qualify based on primary residence, please provide the individual’s driver’s license, state ID, utility bill, lease, or mortgage agreement for the Agency to verify the individual’s eligibility

 

 

 

The entity then lists the EEPs in its project workforce in the Year-End Report, and submits the EEPs’ attestations and required supplemental documentation to the Agency for certification.

  1. The entity will be asked about EEPs’ demographic and employment classification information (full-time, part-time, etc.) in the Year-End Report.